Blanched Sliced Sea Conch
A classic Cantonese seafood preparation: thinly sliced whelk is blanched in a light secondary broth until nearly cooked through, preserving its tender, juicy, and crisp texture.
Ingredients
Large sea conch (crack shell, remove meat, discard operculum and intestines; use only center portion about 600 g)
4000 g
Shaoxing wine (for cooking)
15 g
Scallion strips (for aroma)
25 g
Light soup stock (for blanching conch slices)
750 g
Ginger slices
10 g
Sesame oil (for final seasoning)
0.5 g
Shrimp paste (divided into small dishes as dipping sauce)
20 g
Rendered pork fat (part for heating shrimp paste and oyster sauce, part for stir-frying)
250 g
Oyster sauce (divided into small dishes as dipping sauce)
20 g
Ginger juice wine (for cooking)
10 g
Instructions
1
Preparing the Conch Meat
Use an iron hammer to crack the conch shell, take out the meat, discard the operculum and intestines, wipe off the surface dirt, wash, cut off the head, tail, and skin, and use only the center portion of the meat, about 600 g. Cut into round slices about 0.3 cm thick.
2
Blanching and Stir-Frying
Divide the shrimp paste and oyster sauce each into two small dishes. Heat a wok over high heat with 35 g rendered pork fat until just simmering; take out 20 g and drizzle it over the shrimp paste and oyster sauce dishes. Add ginger and scallions, splash with ginger juice wine, add the light soup stock, bring to a boil, then remove the ginger and scallions. Add the conch slices and blanch until 90% cooked, then drain in a colander. Heat the wok again over high heat, swirl in oil to coat, then pour the oil back into the basin. Add the conch slices, splash with Shaoxing wine, add the sesame oil, quickly toss to combine, and plate immediately.
3
Making Ginger Juice Wine
Grate 500 g ginger into a paste, place it in a white cheesecloth bag and tie it tightly. Put the bag in a bowl, add 500 g rice wine to soak, and at the same time squeeze out the ginger juice to mix evenly.
4
Note
Blanch the conch slices briefly in the light soup stock; once blanched, remove immediately. Overcooking makes the conch meat tough and rubbery, rendering it inedible.
